Megara

Megara is a historic town and municipality in western Attica, Greece. The town was founded by Car, the son of Phoroneus, who built a citadel called "Caria" and temples to Demeter called "Megara". Megara was an early dependency of Corinth, and colonists from Megara founded Megara Hyblaea (now Augusta) to the north of Syracuse in Sicily and also colonized Salamis. It then fought a war of independence with Corinth, and founded Chalcedon in 685 BC and Byzantium in 667 BC. Megara and Miletus formed a colonization alliance, and Megara fought alongside Sparta and Athens during the wars against Persia. Megara also fought in the Peloponnesian War as an ally of Sparta, and Megara later fought against the Gauls in 279 BC, Macedon in 266 BC, and the Boeotian League in 203 BC. Megara was known as a trade port which specialized in the exportation of wool and other animal products such as livestock and horses. In 2011, Megara had a population of 36,924 people.